


The Seduction of Thea Tevos

by PenMasterShepard



Series: Welcome to Life [5]
Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-06 18:08:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15891282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenMasterShepard/pseuds/PenMasterShepard
Summary: A year before Aria met Shepard there was Professor Thea Tevos...





	1. Chapter 1

“It’ll be two-hundred.” Manicured nails clicked on the wooden surface of the bar; echoed in the café like rifle fire, far-off and faded.

The kid let out a breath between thin lips, and she quickly met his gaze, spinning around on her stool and raising her brow markings. “Listen, I don’t run a charity; pay up or get out. I gotta get to class.”

He took a step back, physically withering, but dug around in his pocket, pulling out a well-worn chit. Slender purple fingers partially clothed in black leather snatched it from him and swiped it against a second one; violet eyes watched for the flash of the lights that signaled payment. She handed it back and twirled her finger around in the air; a witch stirring her brew.

He complied, spinning and facing the opposite wall. He knew she was good for it. Aria T’Loak didn’t hustle you.

As long as you didn’t fuck with her.

She unzipped his backpack and shoved a small packet through the opening before kicking him in the ass with the toe of her boot, sending him flying towards the door. He grumbled something in response and made for the hallway, arm bent behind him grasping for the zipper pull.

She spun back around on her stool and grabbed her cooling espresso, downing it in one go and fingering the corners of her mouth with precision, wiping foam and coffee; grabbed her jacket from the bar and shrugged it over her shoulders, the white leather practically glowing in the dim of the campus bar. As she headed out the door she slammed her open palm onto the wall next to the back room: a dull thud followed by a sharp crack and a torrent of foul-language.

“Motherfu- Jesus, Aria,” a lanky woman covered in tattoos appeared in the doorway, rubbing the back of her shaved head and checking her palm for blood.

“I’ve got Galactic Politics in five minutes, so if anyone comes squirreling around you’ll have to serve them.”

“I’m out.”

The asari rolled her eyes and dug around in the back pockets of her pants, fishing out a few small baggies. “There. Don’t let that fucking little tweaker who doesn’t even go here buy from you this week; he owes me.” Fire danced behind her smile despite the whiteness of her teeth. _Owes me_ was not a good state to be in. It was only September but even the freshmen knew that.

She stepped into the hallway and the milling ceased; they parted like water – pressed into walls and clung to the bulletin boards like jetsam. Scurried away like insects with every swing her hips made, careful to look down until she had passed, when their eyes raised back to take in the view she left behind.

The chatter stalled with every slight, evocative, lightning-charged twitch of her hands or nod of her head; reverence or fear they couldn’t identify it even to themselves.

She was already a goddess, gliding and untouchable. A queen, her subjects the focus of her love and wrath at once; devotion and despair in equal measure.

 _Look-don’t touch-white hot to match her white leather. Silk and poison and eyes following wherever she went; couldn’t help it - no one could help it. Like a deadly plant, bright colours screaming danger, screaming desire: come closer, aren’t I pretty? Don’t touch me, I’ll bite._ Carnivorous in her beauty.

Desirable but untouchable.

Unattainable.

Unattainable except by one.

 

***** 

“Her name’s Aria T’Loak.” Thea tossed the folder onto the cluttered desk, where papers fluttered to the floor. Her coworker – nameplate reading Professor Van der Mer – grabbed a few strays and began to read as she sunk into the adjacent chair.

“She seems like trouble.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he flipped through the sparse pile of graded papers and other work submitted by student #663427-A.

 

_Student #663427-A, older than the usual suspect. No books or bags or data pads._

_Student #663427-A, who lounged askew, with her boots on the row in front of her, ankles crossed and arms draped over the side of the chair._

_Student #663427-A, who turned in one in every four assignments and refused to be a part of group discussions or lecture critiques._

_Student #663427-A, who had never once spoken a word to her, but who’s piercing eyes met her own every time she looked to that place at the back of the lecture hall._

_Who’s gaze seemed to coincide with stumbled-bitten lips-stammering over policies and legal letters._

_Student #663427-A, deep purple and cheekbones and-_

 

“You may be correct,” Tevos mumbled as she rubbed her temple, trying to will away the headache she felt brewing. It was too early in the semester for this level of stress; _for this amount of pure laziness displayed by a student_ , she thought, face screwing into a tight ball. It was sloppy. It was disrespectful. It was… distasteful. Salacious.

She licked her lips and shook her head, “I don’t think she’s worth the effort, Jon.” _She’s trouble._

“Thea, they’re all worth the effort,” he pushed the papers back at her and pulled up his Omni-tool, flicking through a digital calendar, “at least at first.” He pinged an invite to her own and she glanced down to her wrist. “We’ll check in in two weeks from now, see if she needs more guidance.”

“She’s just wasting time and more than likely her parents money, but I’ll have a few meetings with her. I am making it clear right now that I am not going to waste _my time_ on someone who’s not interested in being here, Jon, not when I have so many others who want to excel.” He sipped his coffee and nodded, chuckling softly. She glared and stood and accepted the meeting with a click. “I am serious.”

“I’m sure you are, Thea. That’s why we all love you around here. Just do this for me, okay? Then when we have to kick her to the curb we can say we did everything we could. I’ll send over the standard academic plan and probation papers, in case it comes to that.”

“ _Nothing_ will come of it,” she replied shortly as she turned to leave. “Ms. T’Loak won’t be a permanent fixture in my calendar, I assure you.”

 

How wrong she was.


	2. Chapter 2

Tevos was dreaming.

In its spinning state her mind was splashing images onto the blank canvas of her sleep, purple and deep and cruel in their crispness.

She tossed fitfully, trying to break free, but the darkness still had work to do and so she simply let out a fragile noise between sleep-pursed lips and turned over; her own sordid undercurrent riding high, and stranding her in want, Aria’s constant taunting meandering through her subconscious, as if the Fates themselves were weaving a reality she could not admit to wanting:

 _Fingers on her waist, feather-light and teasing, roaming, thumbs pressing into the dimples on either side of her spine; tracing, drawing,_ designing _the map of her._

_Eyes, obsidian and full of heavy-lidded promise, taking her in; drinking her deeply._

_A tongue, on her throat; near her crest; breath whispering a name she had no right knowing._ Thea...

_Lips bruised and swollen from overuse._

_Rich purple finding velvet pink waiting, wanting._

_Legs tangled in legs. Arms intertwined in passion as backs arched and chests shuddered with impending release._

_Her dream voice crying out her name: “Aria.” A name she had barely spoken aloud a dozen times, but was constantly thumping around in her head like a rhythmic drum; an extension of her heartbeat – “Aria…”_

In the waking world her hands clasped and unclasped at the sheets; twitching - reaching – searching - for the heated lover who was not there. Noises in the back of her throat, threatening to spill secrets over her lips and into the dark.

_…Aria._

 

*****

 

Aria watched her through the glass of the door. She was sitting on a soft satee with her knees chastely together and a pen in her hand - she always seemed to have a pen in her hand - well-worn books at her feet.

Thea laughed and Aria imagined the sound: was it as clipped as her speech, every syllable carrying weight? Or was it something more feminine; musical? Lovely?

Something warm and liquid crept up from her stomach, and for a moment she doubted her own motives.

_She’s a conquest, nothing more._

To bed the teacher would be the ultimate fuck you to this rigid, stale place. Aria was used to decadent desserts, and she was simply carte du jour.

_I will be denied nothing._

She cleared her throat, and suddenly realized her eyes had gone unfocused; she had drifted somewhere. She narrowed them and bit her tongue between her back teeth. _Hmmm._

She felt a curious sense of amusement. _Nothing gets in the way of what I want,_ she thought, shifting her weight to one hip, _and you’re what I want, Thea-_ the professor turned her head as if summoned and Aria resisted the urge to duck behind the frame of the door. _Curious…_

Instead she raised her brow and stared straight at her; wondered if she saw her lurking there, all big-cat sly and devil-malevolent.

Stalking her prey.

Thea turned back without as much as a glimmer of recognition. Still – _still_ – she seemed off-put, smoothing out the lap of her dress. As she did Aria wondered how it would feel to peel it off of her.

_Wondered what she smelled like._

What it would be like to take her time with that clasp at the back of her neck.

_What she tasted like._

To rake her nails across the scales along her shoulder blades while she squirmed, breathing in her ear as the zipper fell one tooth at time.

_What made her laugh, cry?_

To watch the fabric pool at her feet and to find what lay beneath; the precursor to creature comforts.

_Love?_

What her lipstick would feel like smudged across her face.

_What she looked like first thing in the morning, before coffee had been drunk, or sleep had been banished entirely._

_What-?_

Aria paused, shaking the thoughts from her brain for the second time.

_…_

She let out a breath and the muscles in her jaw tightened. The chase was maddening. It sent fire through her veins in a way drugs never could; febrile yet polar at the same time, like a terrible fever. To watch her during class, imagining the different ways she could provoke the reaction she craved, ignited an inferno in her. Her own sexuality the greatest arousal; the knife’s edge was her domain, self-control her opiate.

The seduction was predictable and predestined. Every act calculated, despite her generally reckless abandon.

Peaked curiosity came first: _Eyes pausing just a bit too long on her own, then flitting by as if it hadn’t happened; a furrowed brow; a stumbled word and the dropping of her pen; the slight cough to cover the misstep. Aria had seen it all, unfolding as predicted. A second glance, so sure that_ no, it couldn’t be; I must be-no _. She could read it all in those white facial swirls that fascinated her._

_So she acted every bit the thrall:_

_Lips wetted by a tongue as she watched; nails chewed subtly as she blinked slowly. Legs spread a bit too wide, showing a bit too much even in leather pants. The suggestions more obscene than the act itself. A jacket shrugged off her shoulders, leaving them bare and sculpted. A stretch overhead, so languid; chest pressed out just a bit too much. The corset she wore unclasped just low enough to elicit a second look… just a bit lower than the day before._

_Seated in the back row, unseen by her fellows: a show just for her, Aria T’Loak headlining._

_Patterns changed second: She no longer ventured up her aisle as she lectured; stayed far away like she would bite without notice. If you only knew… stopped trying to sneak looks and instead pointedly ignored her. Aria had stopped handing in assignments just to test her methods, and hadn’t heard a word about the missing papers. She seemed nervous now, as if just being in the same building would lead to some catastrophic event; as if she was guilty of something._

_Guilty of the inevitable._

_Then came Aria’s favourite chord to strum, overt and hoarse. Riotous in its tune and bass-heavy in her chest._

_The dance of a predator. The courtship ritual of the damned._

_It made her wet._

_But more importantly, it got her high._

She closed her eyes for a brief, enjoyable second.

Graduate students were grouped around the good doctor, having some kind of debate with both each other and their professor, sharing ideas like others would share libations; pouring from one mind to another, sometimes pausing to fill the other’s cup, sometimes speaking in cacophony as one. She laughed soundlessly at the image: a pitcher of ideals; a flask filled with pomp. _They think they’ll rule the galaxy one day_ , she scoffed, ignoring the small-framed human boy who was desperately trying to squeeze past her and open the library door. She was immovable as a gargoyle, but he succeeded in doing a funny little dance and ducking under her arm; she grabbed the handle of his backpack and held him in place; watched as his legs scurried, trying to regain their footing.

“Get out of my fucking way,” she hissed in static syllables, shoving him through the open door where he stumbled before scampering away.

The door swung back in her face and when she looked up Tevos was gone, her seat empty. It was as if she had vanished.

Aria clucked her tongue and shoved the door open, where it slammed against the wall with a bang.

 

*****

 

Tevos was running her fingers along the spines of the books in the fiction section, eyes intently scanning the authors’ names. Aria saw her through the small space between shelving and stopped her approach to watch. She tilted her head sideways, - not realizing she was mimicking Thea’s own movements - and took in the vision that was the professor. Purple skin – darker than Aria’s own – was softened by those strange patterns, whereas her eyes – green and deep and thoughtful – were sharp; scholar’s eyes. She reminded Aria of a noble being; an Amazonian goddess or the statuesque queen of a frozen land, born out of time. Thick features that foretold a warrior’s fate, sent to the wrong soul: square jaw, high cheekbones, full, commanding lips and nose. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did.

 _Did it ever_.

Aria realized she was holding her breath.

That she had never been isolated alongside her before this moment.

She blinked rapidly and watched Thea pause and remove a book from the shelf; checked the section as she strode along and up the aisle: human authors, 19th century. Watched her tap that damn pen against her chin, thoughtfully.

Felt something in her chest akin to a great hollow space; breaking glass.

Buried that alive.

 

She wasn’t a patient woman, unless it suited her – and today it did - but she would have made a great tactician; she adopted her favourite cross-armed pose at the end of the aisle and took a substantial drag of her cigarette while waiting for Tevos to finish what seemed to be the cataloging of the entire human bibliography.

She picked her nails and tapped one heeled boot on the carpet, wishing the muffled _thumps_ were just a bit more biting in their echoes.

A cough was the first signal Thea was rounding the corner, and Aria smirked, drinking in the last few seconds of anticipation like the addict she was; dope, shoot it up, mainline it please. She could feel her presence getting closer - like steel buzzing before an electrical storm - just waiting for her moment-

-“Oh!” Thea rounded the corner and almost collided with her.

“Hey Teach.”

 

Thea’s heart jumped into her throat as she came up just short of crashing into the form in front of her: larger than life and unfortunately familiar. She let out a small, surprised noise, and the book she was holding tumbled to the ground.

“Hey Teach,” Aria spoke like the world owed her favours.

 _Her voice is higher than I thought it would be,_ she thought absently; pulled her arms close to her breasts.

Aria bent down and retrieved her book for her. Thea reached her hand out to take it back but the other asari pulled it away, turning it over in her hands and reading the cover; sounding out the English title, lips moving silently.

“Ms. T’Loak,” she finally found her voice,

“So you do know my name,” Aria wore a Cheshire grin to match her Queen of Hearts eyes.

“I know all my students’ names.” _Especially those that haunt my dreams…_

“Strange choice for summer reading, Thea.”

“Please call me Professor Tevos, I do not think we’re acquainted well enough for first names.” She took the novel back and made a move to leave. Aria blocked her path.

“We could be. _Acquainted_ I mean,” she replied, smirking around her cigarette. Tevos’ eyes went to the butt between her teeth and suddenly came back to herself; was no longer some love-struck maiden waving away unwanted attentions – _unwanted? Please._ – but rather an employee – a _professor, for Goddess’ sake_ – of the University of Serrice;

“You cannot have that in here,” she hissed, vexed. She snatched it from between her teeth and threw it Aria’s feet.

She realized she was in her space, too close; close enough to trace the lines that creased her brow, to see the slight smudge of lipstick next to her mouth, the impenetrable colour of her eyes, the cracks in her leather jacket. Felt the heat coming off her body: the hellish blaze barely contained within this soul.

The spark that practically shocked her fingers when she came so close to touching her lips; an arc of electricity, making her recoil and draw breath, both frozen for a moment in time. A moment in time that led to so many more.

Later – years later - she would look back at this moment and think: _there. That’s the moment when it all began to unstitch. When we began to tangle irrevocably. That tiny gesture was all it took…_

All it took for her to get lost in the labyrinth that was Aria. To get washed away by the wave that followed her tsunami-presence, and get stranded by her love.

_Here comes the flood…_

Aria stared at her for a minute, eyes narrowing slightly as she wet her lips with her tongue, as if she was trying to taste Thea on them.

That precarious grin spreading over her face slowly; creeping across it like an unexpected fog: beautiful but dusky. Her head tipped back and she tucked her lips into each other, amused. She used her toe to crush the smoke out before speaking; Thea saw her lipstick staining the end of the filter and inexplicitly felt something flutter in her stomach, hot and tight; felt her legs tingle.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Aria spoke, wonderfully amused.

Syrup-stuck and tongue tied Tevos stammered, trying to get her vocal chords to cooperate; birds in her ribs, needles in her limbs. So mystified, so off-kilter. So _angry_. She stepped back, green eyes afire.

“I cannot believe you had the audacity to light a cigarette in here.”

_I cannot believe I’m arguing with her. Like she’s a peer – like she means anything-_

Aria shrugged and leaned back against the shelf; spell broken, the hypnosis fading as fast as it come on. 

“I’m not much of a rule follower, Thea,” using her name purposefully this time. “I tend to do what I want.”

_Get what I want._

“Ms. T'Loak you have been late for or have missed seven of my classes in a row now. Please follow me to my office, I have been assigned as your academic advisor to curb this behaviour.” Aria gave her a snappish look and rose up from her half-sitting position. For a moment Thea was sure she was going to refuse. Was sure she was going to touch her; put her hands on her waist and- _Goddess_

“Sure.” Instead she flicked another cigarette out of her pack and clamped it between her lips. “I’ve got nothing else planned today.”

_I always get what I want._


	3. Chapter 3

_“Follow me to my office…”_

_This may have been a bad idea._

_“…To curb this behaviour.”_

_In hindsight-after earlier-Goddess- she’s so sure of herself-so certain I will-I should have…_

_I should have-_

_Curbed her behaviour._

She trembled under her hand-

_Curb this behaviour – I should-really-this behaviour._

 

Tevos held the office door open and Aria strode in before her, taking in the bookshelves and paintings. There was a large desk near the front of the room with an austere chair behind it, two more in front. Near the curtained window a small table was set for tea, magazines stacked nearby; chairs that looked a great deal more comfortable surrounded it, and the light wood was stained with rings from the cups.

Tevos turned on the overhead light as Aria prowled around the office, making herself at home; taking in the titles of textbooks and novels; running her gloved hands along the shelves and turning knickknacks around like an inspector. Statuettes and amber domes, bookends and dusty tomes. The room told her everything she needed to know. She had expected modern, sleek, glass and metal. Instead she felt like she had stepped back into the dark ages.

“Please put that down,” Thea took a paperweight from her and returned it to its place.

Aria draped herself over one of the cushy chairs, picking up a cup and sniffing the dregs. “Why aren’t you a language professor?” She asked, setting it back down carefully. She was reckless but not careless. “English maybe?” Tevos, who had made her way back to the door, halted and stared at her. “The books; this-“ she motioned to the tea set, “The novel you had in the library. _All_ of this. Why are you a _politics_ professor? Seems too…” She searched for the correct word, “taciturn.”

Thea thought better of her idea to close the door to maintain Aria’s privacy; _I really could get in over my head here…_

“That is none of your business. Perhaps if you were paying attention in class-“ she sat behind her desk, putting the slab of wood between Aria and herself. Smoothed her dress out again under the desk.

“What, you think I’m not?” Aria looked over her shoulder and out the window, dismissively. She looked like a cat, all viscous liquid and twitching muscles.

Thea opened her console and tracked through her records, “you have missed,” she paused, “three assignments.”

“I’m paying attention to you,” Aria rose and leaned over her, her palms on the desk; her cleavage threatened to spill out of her corset. Thea caught herself looking.

“Ms. T’Loak, sit down.”

“Aria.”

“ _Ms. T’Loak_ ,” Tevos ignored her and sent a document to her printer where it chugged out paper after paper. Aria didn’t break eye contact even when Tevos did; instead she lifted her hand and placed it over Thea’s. She jumped at the contact – at the burn – and pulled it back quickly. Aria laughed and walked to the door, closing it softly. It clicked in the silence that enveloped them and a chill ran up the professor’s spine.

“I’m paying very close attention to you, Thea… I can’t be blamed that you’re more interesting than Batarian slave law or Citadel Council rhetoric.”

_So she had been listening…_

Thea stood abruptly and crossed the office in two quick motions, forgetting about the academic plan and probation forms.

“Do not use my first name,” she was beginning to loose her patience.

_Or my resolve…_

The corner of Aria’s mouth turned up in devilish way and she stepped into Thea’s space, hands going to her hips. Tevos went stiff as a board, unable to breath; breathing in only her scent: acrid, like –

Charcoal.

Ozone.

_No. Lightning._

_I should have-_

_Curbed her behaviour._

She trembled under her hand-

_Curb this behaviour – I should-really-this behaviour._

Aria’s lips were on her own before she could even think about reacting, but it didn’t matter, her body responded for her: without a thought her hand shot up and slapped Aria across the face with a sharp _crack_.

They froze, Thea with her hand midair, Aria still facing the direction her head had snapped. Her eyes grew wide; Aria’s were still closed against the sting.

_Oh Goddess, I hit a student… what am I going to tell my supervisor. How am I going to explain the situation- the closed door- I will be fired; what has gotten into me? I will be shamed and ridiculed and I should have just let her kiss me- I should have enjoyed it; the outcome is the same- Oh! No, Goddess, what are you thinking?_

Aria slowly turned her face back, disbelief painted all over her features.

Tevos choked on her words; “Aria, I- I should not have done that, but you should have- _never_ – I believe you may have misread- if I sent any signals I assure you-“

 _Did she- did she just slap me? And I didn’t-I didn’t even_ want to _retaliate;_ perplexed Aria covered her confusion with wit:

“Let me buy you a drink.”

Tevos stepped back and clutched her dress in her hands, wringing them.

“Absolutely not,”

“Just one drink… you pick the time and place.” She had to get out of here. Recoup her losses and recover.

“That is not going to happen.” Thea sank into her office chair, rubbing her forehead, mind clearly going a mile a minute.

“Oh it will.” She opened the office door and smirked again, trying to find her rhythm again. Trying to cover the shift in power dynamics she had just been party to.

“Ms. T’Loak-“

“Yes it will. I know it will-“ she stepped into the hallway.

Tevos relented, “how could you possibly know?”

“Because you called me Aria.” With that she was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Aria wasn’t in class for the following two lectures. Looking up mid quiz and not seeing that particular shade of purple made her heart sink, but she thought perhaps it was for the best. By the second day Thea felt her missing presence to the point of distraction, dismissing the students early and using the room to collect both her notes for the next lecture and her thoughts.

She had had no more dreams, but despite that her sleep was just as restless; she had shifted around in the sheets, trying to forget how her lips had felt on her own.

Tried to forget the hands on her hips – softly, softly – the gooseflesh that had followed, the dry mouth and cotton-brain.

_Your career, Thea…_

_Your reputation._

_Yes, but what do you want?_ Aria taunted from within her head, _You want_ me _._

But the softness of her kiss had been shocking; the tenderness behind all that overt eroticism had rattled her. She had expected force. The kind of kiss that rattled bones and seared flesh. Instead it had been gentle, hesitant; had left her wanting to return it, to see how it felt to truly kiss her; to part her lips and drink her in, wholly, let tongues collide and breath mingle until –

The sound of the classroom door hissing open made her jump, and she blushed plum, as if she had been caught doing something naughty.

_Aria._

The click of her heels as she crossed the floor did nothing to dampen her desire, but she hid it behind a façade of coolness.

“Ready for that drink?” She stood at the cusp of the first row of seats, holding a small box in her gloved hand.

“I told you-“

“Ah ah, you’re blushing… now why would you be blushing, Professor? Happy to see me?”

Tevos pressed her lips together and suddenly she was all thin ridges and sharp edges. Aria just rolled her eyes.

“Listen, I’m sorry I missed class, but I had an errand to run and-“ Thea cut her off with an upheld hand,

“I do not care, Ms. T’Loak. You have shown you have no interest in your academic career in my classroom, so I will ask you to leave.” She reached into her bag and brought out a stack of neatly clipped papers, “Here are your course drop forms; if you would prefer the electronic versions I can forward them to you.”

“My interests lie in different venues, Tevos,” Aria approached the small desk she sat at and plunked the box she had been carrying down.

“I am obviously aware, but-“

“No buts. I don’t do ‘buts.’” She hoisted herself up onto the table edge, half sitting and staring down at her.

“-But,” she continued, desperately trying to ignore her closeness. “I do not share your interests,” she lowered her eyes, afraid she would call her bluff; “nor do I date students-“

“Ah, but you yourself just gave me my walking papers,” Aria reached out and tilted her chin up; Thea flinched. “I am no longer your student.” The knotted cords in her stomach slowly began to untie. “And you’re lying,” she whispered, “I believe our _interests_ very much align.” Aria leaned over the desk, one arm holding her weight, the other bringing Thea’s face close to her own, “I won’t even call you your name, Tevos.” Thea shuddered, her eyes closing; the signs of her undoing.

They had been there from the start.

“But I do expect that I will hear mine…” her voice was low and melodic, barely audible next to her mouth. Thea’s heart flipped and she throbbed; she whimpered and brought her hand to Aria’s wrist, wanting, wanting, _needing_ to close that distance. Coveting their closeness. Craving those lips on her own again.

Her will prevailed and she gently removed the hand from her chin and turned her face away.

Aria took it in stride. She huffed and slid off the desk with finesse, but Thea thought she heard a quake in her breath. “Here, this is for you,” she tossed the box back at her with a practiced wrist and Tevos barely had time to catch it.

It was the same tea she kept in her office;

“How-how did you-?”

“I recognized the brand…”

 _Did she look-demure? Was that… shyness? Is the Queen herself bashful?_ Thea smiled – truly beamed – at both that thought and the gift.

“Well-I mean,” she stood, suffocated by her own speechlessness. “I am not sure it is appropriate to accept gifts-“

“It’s a box of tea, Tevos, not a bonding bracelet.”

“…Thank you.”

Aria shrugged like it was no big thing. They stood in awkward silence for a moment, neither knowing where to look; Aria didn’t seem comfortable in her own skin for an instant. The ticking of the clock on the wall was their only companion.

“So-“ she slunk back into the nearest seat, crossing her right leg over her left and tapping her boot against nothing but air. “That drink?”

“No, Ms. T’Loak,” Aria raised her brow. “But I think perhaps I will have a cup of tea.”

 

*****

 

Thea refused to accompany her to the café on campus - it was too risky – but she agreed to meet at Apollo’s. She had left Aria outside the Poli-Sci building, where Aria’s hand had brushed against her own in parting. The tingle followed her all the way to her office.

The café wasn’t as nice as its Citadel namesake, but it would do in a pinch. She spied Aria seated at a table by the large bay window; she stood and smiled cryptically. As she approached, Aria pulled the chair out for her and let her sit before pushing it back in. Tevos looked around, skittishly, so sure someone would see. Someone would feel the energy between them and cry from the hills: _Inappropriate! Scandal! Burn her!_

But of course no one did. No one even looked twice as Tevos pulled pen and paper from bag, and Aria returned to the table with a coffee and a cup of tea, steaming and full of honey and milk.

 

She watched her as she took off her jacket and carefully hung it on the back of her seat; she sat across from her and beamed, radiating cockiness and practically preening. Thea admired the view; both the one outside the window and the vista that was Aria’s arms and shoulders. She caught her staring and Thea quickly took a sip of her tea, making a cross face and harshly drawing in breath. 

“Can’t handle the heat, Teach?” Thea suddenly wasn’t sure if it was the drink or her cheeks that was the source of the steam. 

Aria leaned her forearms on the table, her hands wrapped around the cup, absorbing the warmth; she was no longer wearing her gloves and Tevos’ thoughts drifted to those long, slender fingers. 

 _Oh somebody save me._ She thought. _Am I really considering this?_

She blew across the top of her tea and sipped more cautiously. 

“Ms. T’Loak, we should use this time to discuss your academic plan.” Aria almost choked on her coffee, laughing. 

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. You did not mistake this for a-“

“-Date-“ she interjected.

“-Anything other than a meeting, did you?” Thea hid her smirk behind her mug, enjoying watching her squirm.

Aria uncrossed her legs and leaned back into her seat, suddenly bored.

“If you want to continue to see me you will have to put in some effort,” Aria perked up, trying to decide if the double-entendre was intentional. She settled on testing the waters:

“Dinner, my place.” Tevos pushed the papers across the divide, where they went ignored. Aria ran the toe of her boot up her ankle, teasing the hem of her dress; the professor jumped in her seat but she was relentless, feathery touches sending silky sensations up her spine.

“Absolutely not.”

“Your place then.”

Thea tutted, taping the stack with her pen, “No. Now, let’s review-“ Aria hitched her chair forward, removing her foot but knocking her cup with her elbow; coffee spilt over the table, drenching the table and Thea’s arm.

“Opps,” she was grinning.

Thea snorted in frustration, “You’re insufferable, you know that?” She dabbed her arm with a napkin before holding the dripping forms up by their ends, trying to salvage something.

“I’ve been told.” Flattery suited her. Thea stood and incredulity painted Aria’s face, disappointment in her eyes; her plan had backfired. Thea raised her hands,

“Wait here, I need to go wash. Get yourself another coffee, we really do need to make you a plan.”

 

*****

 

Aria’s presence in her office became almost mandatory. She seemed to know her schedule better than she did, always showing up before or after class, in between when she usually had a precious moment to herself, but never during her pre-booked office hours, or when she had a meeting with a colleague. She seemed clairvoyant.

Sometimes Thea would unlock the door and find small traces of her – her perfume lingering in the air, a stray remedial assignment on her desk, the teapot still hot - or tokens of her affection – a scrawled note, often obscene and making her blush, or freshly picked flowers. She imagined the dark beauty that was Aria – the bird of prey in asari form – stopping and pilfering the campus gardens and couldn’t help but laugh.

She puzzled over how Aria had access to her office for a day or two, until she began to notice the winks and nods from Toral as he delivered the mail and cleaned the hallways. She reminded herself to give the Salarian an extra-large holiday tip this year. And be more careful.

There were long, hastily darkening, evenings where Aria spent her time flipping through various titles in her collection, occasionally asking a question about the English pronunciation of a word, while devouring the books at an alarming pace; an equal amount of times they ended up hurled across her office, making Thea jerk and look up suddenly from grading. Her company had become part of the furniture; her long, lean, body adding an oddly comforting element to her day. Her aura soothing despite its generally scorching nature.

She would raise her eyes from an essay or quiz and find her staring at her. Often with a devious smile, shadows casting her chiseled face in a demon mask, _but sometimes_ …

Sometimes, she caught a softer look; a fragility which left her punch-gutted and hollow, whatever stony wall she had built inside crumbling.

She had stopped trying to get her to leave.

Other nights she would be preoccupied with her Omni-tool, scrolling through it and tapping out messages insistently until Tevos’ exasperation drove her from the office. Thea thought she had an idea where she was headed: the money she spent had to have come from somewhere and the longer she knew Aria the more she doubted her original hypothesis of family money.

“Have dinner with me,” she looked up and Aria was in her favourite position: leaned over her desk, inches away.

Tevos tipped her head to the side, so used to her now; so used to her propositions crawling up her backbone, slithering up her thighs, slinking into her brain until they were permanent. Aria lit a cigarette and Tevos watched the flame dance against the tip of it, igniting tobacco and smoldering until it was ash.

“No, Ms. T’Loak-“

_Didn’t realize how they had actually eroded her-_

“-Kiss me then.” Smoke drifted out of her open mouth in a lazy circle.

_…Chipping away slowly like water on stone…_

She was walking around the desk now, creeping towards her, white tendrils flowing from her nostrils. The scent was sweet, like vanilla and wool.

“You-you can’t smoke in here…”

_…So slowly and relentlessly that she hadn’t noticed it happening…_

“Kiss me.” She put the cigarette out on the desk.

_Beleaguered, dissolving, and ready to topple; ready to let her._

She slid into her lap, legs spread and breasts pushing into breasts. Thea dropped her pen and her eyes darted to the floor, following the sound it made as it hit the floor. It was like a thunder-crash, but she was a thousand miles away.

A finger lazily drew circles along her collarbone, quaking her very core; her very core wet and-

“Aria…” She wrapped her arms around her and ran her hands along her sides – up under her jacket and along the skin that showed through her corset; Aria jumped momentarily at the contact – at her name - then melted into her, purring.

“You’re no good for me…” She tucked her head into the crook of Aria’s neck.

“Glad to see we think alike.”

Thea laughed; let Aria’s arm envelope her. “If I agree,”

Aria hummed, pleased

“– _to dinner_ ,” she added hastily, “will you climb down off my lap and let me finish grading?”

“You’re in charge, Professor,” she replied, and did what she was told. For once.


	5. Chapter 5

The pot on the stove rattled away and hissed, boiling over.

“Oh, shoot-shoot-shoot, Goddess,” Thea rushed down the stairs near the front hall and into the open kitchen, pulling her bra strap up over her shoulder and stumbling into one high heeled shoe. She hastened to pull the lid off the largest of her cookware, letting out steam and dropping it on the counter. She pulled a thumb into her mouth, sucking at the burn while stirring with the other hand.

“I should have let Aria cook,” she said to no one, replaying their last conversation in her head while she checked and double checked the table setting and pulled the wine from its chiller.

_“I am not going to residence,”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Why not?” She sputtered over her mug, “everyone will see.”_

Will know.

_Aria had rolled her eyes like a toddler and scoffed, “I don’t even have a roommate; she dropped out. Probably died of boredom – self induced – won’t get a new one until next term at least, probably not until next year. I’ve been told I’m ‘difficult to live with.’”_

She fiddled with the arrangement of flowers, moving them from the middle of the table to the side where they wouldn’t block her view, then back.

 _Goddess, get yourself together Thea, it’s not like you’ve never had a dinner date before._ A date. She had broken down and actually agreed to a date. With a student. With Aria T’Loak of all students… _Goddess, just take me now. Just end this torment and swallow me whole…_ She thought as she climbed the stairs to find her shirt. _Although, now that I think about it-_ she couldn’t remember the last time she had let someone take her out, let alone had brought someone back to her home. Her bed. _Years? It couldn’t be…_

There had been the parched sand dunes of her teenaged years; too tall, too learned and quiet and stern for the girls in her school; and the disaster that had been Loris, the blue-skinned theatre-major that had taken first her heart, then her virginity in college, and the nice turian boy after that, the one her father had met at work… A smattering of dates since, here and there: asari, human, no more turians…

Too mild, too wild, too boring, too…

_Busy… you’ve just been too… busy with work. With your studies and your career, and-she’s no good for me…_

_I don’t really want to know what’s good for me._

The doorbell saved her from that thought.

 

“Sorry, I was, uh, I needed finish getting ready.” Aria stood on her stoop with a bouquet in one hand and a bottle of Noverian rum in the other; “-my shirt-“

She raised a brow, _not on my account, I hope._ Tevos could see it in her eyes; wandering, undressing, _guessing_ at what lay beneath. Aria was dressed in a light linen shirt, almost sea-faring in its design, and a pair of well-fitted flowing pants. Her usual jacket of course.

She opened the door wider and let her in, let her hand her the flowers and let her kiss her cheek mildly. It was all so formal. So normal. So un-Aria. “Come in, please.”

She did.

 

The soup was a thick green and smelt of heather and lavender.

Aria had hung her jacket and poured them both wine, moving around the kitchen like she belonged there as Thea arranged the flowers she had been gifted. She had seasoned and prepped salad and helped serve with a delicacy and command that made Tevos stop and stare. Tevos sat at the island and watched shoulder blades move up and down with every knife movement, and triceps flex when she retrieved the roasted bird from the oven. There was a normalcy to her she hadn’t seen before, shining under the veneer that was her overt sexuality and serrated personality. She ebbed and flowed like a great movement of opera, underpinnings of woodwinds and strings drowned out by the crash of brass and tenor voices, and just as she had been at those performances as a child, sitting on her mother’s lap with her father’s smooth Salarian hand in her own, she was mesmerized. Awed and thunder-struck; a philharmonic in Asari skin.

 

They chatted over the clink of spoons on bowls and knives on plates; Aria was evasive but Thea’s tongue loosened once the Noverian rum had been uncorked:

 

_“Favourite movie-please don’t say Fleet and Flotilla-”_

_“Vaenia;” so deadpan._

_“I’ve never even seen it.”_

_“Tevos, you’re a liar.”_

_“Oh you’ve never read Chaucer? You simply must-“_

_“Oh,_ you simply must _!” she had mocked and made her blush, winking over the rim of her glass; running her finger along it suggestively._

_“Salarian? Well, wouldn’t have pegged that. Turian, maybe. Human even, though you’re too old for that-“_

_“Excuse me?”_

_“How old are you, Aria?”_

_“1,200,”_

_Thea laughed, almost spitting wine out her nose,_

_“Now, you, Ms. T’Loak, are the liar.”_

_“Your parents?”_

_A shrug,_

_“Were you born on Thessia?”_

_A flip of her wrist,_

_“Why did_ you _choose to study politics?”_

_“Teacher’s gorgeous,” a smirk to challenge the ages._

 

 

“So, why did you study Galactic Politics and History?” Aria asked, voice raised to reach her. She was in the living room, doing more of her usual pacing: grabbing throw pillows and scanning family photos. Thea had banished her from helping with the clean up, and she had quickly stacked the plates and silverware in the sink and topped up their glasses before she found Aria perched on the ottoman, an old book in her hands.

“My father-“ she stopped in the doorway, her explanation lost in her throat:

she was struck by how beautiful she was, there in her most private of spaces, jacket gone, airs gone; she seemed… ordinary. Tangible. The harshness of her was softened by the low lighting and alcohol. Thea felt a pinch in her stomach, like a lead weight. For a moment a memory flashed in her mind, of an old doorstop her father had kept his study door propped open with for as long as she could remember; it was a songbird made of cast granite. That’s what it felt like, now, so many years later.

Feather-light and stone heavy.

 

 _A Christmas Carol_ was tattered around the edges and much loved, and Aria was turning it over in her hands, gently, hesitant to flip through the pages in fear they would crumble like the leaves outside and turn to dust.

“It’s one of my favourites,” Tevos said, as she set the glasses on a shelf and took the book from her, dropping it back onto the ottoman without looking at it. She only had eyes for the woman in front of her, the mystery of her rhythm pulling parts of her she didn’t even know she had apart.

 

She pushed her down onto the couch without a second thought – before she could think herself out of it – and sat on her lap; Aria let out a little _‘oof’_ and a ghost of shock passed over her eyes; _staring into those ice blue eyes, purple in their depths._

Thea let her hands drift to Aria’s crest, smelling her, touching her, feeling her heat and depth and breadth. Aria’s hand lazily wandered her back, and she shivered, feeling the strength in her.

“Thanks for dinner, _Professor_ ,”

“My pleasure, Ms. T’Loak.” Aria kissed her neck, butterfly soft and teasing, and she heard in her ear:

“Hmmm, will it be, I wonder?” Tevos felt the electric tingle of desire start between her legs and climb into her stomach, fuzzy and full of life.

_Curb this behaviour._

Except she didn’t want to. Not even close.

“You’re no good for me…” she tilted her head back, arching her back as Aria’s mouth explored her softly-scaled skin. Tevos’ hands trembled, undoing the top button of her shirt; her nipples were stiff, she could see them through the linen, and she wanted to wrap her mouth around them until she begged her to stop.

“You say that, yet here we are.” Aria’s hands wrapped around her waist, thumbs sneaking up under the hem of her shirt and massaging her stomach; mouth still driving her to distraction.

She wanted to remember this moment forever. Wanted to sear it into the molecules, make it part of her DNA. Memorize the slope of her nose and the shape of her lips, split so defiantly by that dark stripe. The angular markings along her cheekbones, so sure she could cut herself on them. How the half-moon between her brows pinched in concentration as she looked at her; really looked at her, into her. How her teeth felt against her neck and how long her fingers were, able to reach around her waist and hold her steady and strong. Wanted to memorize her smell and taste and the way her eyes darkened when they took in her body and-

“Aria-I-“

A loud buzzing tore the sentiment from her lips and banished them into the night air, where they floated away, the words as lost as the moment.

“Fuck.” Aria’s Omni-tool lit up their faces, ghastly orange and sickly. “I’ve got to go, I-”

Tevos disentangled herself from her lap, trying to calm her heavy breathing. “I do not want to know, Aria.” _The less I know the better, I think._

“Sorry.” She was playing a dangerous game, with dangerous people. Playing a dangerous game with Tevos’ emotions, if she was being perfectly honest; wasn’t even meaning to. Somehow, someway, during her exercise in earthly desires the world had flipped. Was no longer about the conquest, but about this woman. _The_ woman. Found herself wanting to reach out tenderly and bring her back onto her lap. To apologize again and again and worship at her feet and bring her name to her lips a hundred times before ever thinking about her own release- was now about lov- “I am sorry. I really am.”

Tevos was looking down at the ground, at her bare feet where shoes had been kicked aside; at her own desires, just as naked and exposed. She wanted to scream. Wanted to berate her and tirade and demand, but what dangerous territory that was… _Had been so ready for her-to let her in and-_ she looked up and saw the honest look of apology on Aria’s face and felt something click inside. Her heart fluttered, falling into her like the teeth of gears meeting.

“Just- be safe.”

“I’m not the one you ever have to worry about.”


	6. Interlude

The blood swirled into the running water, turning the deep red to a washed-out pink. It spiraled down the drain and Aria caught her reflection in the mirror: saw eyes that were bloodshot with purple veins, saw there were still flecks of crimson-turning-muddy brown dotting her cheeks. Saw the darkness in her heart.

She sighed and splashed clean water onto her face, scrubbing hands and forearms. She had stripped off the linen shirt – ruined now – and stood in just a simple black bra and stretchy shorts, her legs goosefleshed in the cold dorm.

She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a stiff drink, downing it over that sink before placing the glass back in the cupboard. Looked out across the small living room and watched the lights of the passing traffic, miles away; her own thoughts miles away, with Thea.

The apartment was dark and she stumbled into the bedroom, tired and annoyed: Three hours ago she had a beautiful woman on her lap, now she covered in some scum junkies’ lifeblood.

_She had answered the door looking like a Goddess, all silken shirts and high heels;_

_He had answered the door looking like a corpse – like the corpse he would soon be – all holes in clothing and stained-dirt skin._

_She sipped the wine, lipstick creating a crescent moon on the glass;_

_He snorted the product, leaving red power along his nostrils._

_The evening had gone by so fast;_

_The gun had gone off so fast._

Blood and grey matter flecked onto the walls, onto her face and hands and-

Lipstick smudged onto her neck-

_She slipped into her lap, so suddenly;_

_His eyes slid out of focus, so suddenly._

_Her scent on her still._

_His blood on her still._

 

She opened her closet and stripped off the shorts she wore, throwing them in a pile of laundry; she took a moment to brush her fingers along the dusty instrument in the back corner. Had never been one to write – hell, had never been one to play often after childhood lessons had been forsaken and fathers had stopped nattering in her ear – but she almost grasped the neck and dug out the bow. A soft knock at her door made her neck snap around, forgetting about the violin and instead grabbing her Carnifex from the top shelf. It had barely gone cold since its last use.

 

She stalked towards the door on bare feet, gun at her side and eyes keen. She knew anyone visiting her had to get past the front desk, but anyone could be bought for the right price. She opened the door a crack;

“Tevos?”

She quickly shoved the gun onto the kitchen counter where it met the sparse front hall, but not before the professor’s eyes went wide.

“You said you didn’t have a roommate…” Aria was naked save a small pair of underwear and a dark bra; in the dim light and against her dark purple skin it made her eyes flash. Made her look voodoo-queen magic and witch-doctor strong. Thea tried not to stare at the body that had eluded her for too long; lean, muscled in the right places, but feminine and curved in all the others.

Nothing so beautifully dark could exist, not outside the fairy tales of old, where dark queens were swathed in dark colours, and they cast corruption over everything they touched.

She stepped forward, before she lost the nerve:

“Aria…” Aria narrowed her eyes, taking her in like the predator she was: _shallow breath; restless hands; bags under her eyes – hadn’t slept – and same clothes she had worn at dinner; nervous eyes, roaming from her face to her breasts, to the floor and back at a twitching pace._ She leaned on the door frame, one arm up against it, the other on her hip; knew she was putting herself on display.

“Aria-” she continued, fighting a cotton tongue and beating heart, “ ‘I-I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.’ ”

Aria didn’t react for a moment, but then that mischievous smirk – that dragon- tinged, Noverian rum-stained smile - overtook her face in its creeping way. The way that pulled at Thea’s very soul.

“Aria-I love you.”

Those words used so lightly, only fit for her.

“Well, come in then.”

And she did.


	7. Chapter 7

“Want a drink?”

“No Aria,” Thea paced the small hall, dropping her purse on the counter next to Aria’s gun and giving it a long look. “I do not want a drink.”

“Well I do,” she sauntered to the cupboard and poured herself another finger of dark liquid, sipping this time.

“Did you hear me?” Aria looked at her over her shoulder; _as if I didn’t, woman._ “I am falling in love with you…”

“Professor, you say that like it’s a bad thing,” she put the glass down and turned to the tizzying Tevos.

“It is,” her voice concrete-cracked and leather-worn, “you’re a student. I will loose everything. My job – my whole career – my home, my reputation-“

“Tevos, calm down…”

“I will not.”

“Kiss me then,” Aria walked towards her and put her hands on her shoulders, steadying her,

“I-“

“Kiss me.”

Tevos laughed, nervously; it sounded wet, like she was on the verge of an ocean of a breakdown. “You are not helping,”

Aria leaned in closer, “Kiss me,” purple lips formed perfect vowels and crisp constantans; Thea watched them in rapt attention.

“Tevos;” soothing; comforting a small child. Those lips next to her neck again, breath hot and heady, her naked flesh pressed against her. She found her hands on Aria’s bare shoulders, soft skin pliable under her fingers, the tips tracing her collarbones and up to her chin. “Tevos?”

She closed her eyes, her own lips next to Aria’s ear: “Thea…” she breathlessly whispered into it. “My name is Thea…”

“Thea…” Like a prayer, a small devotion, “kiss me.”

_Love me._

_What’s the worst that could happen?_

_Love me._

Thea pulled her in; her lips were silk and cinnamon, parting to give her passage.

The kiss was soft, and long, and she tasted like tobacco and whisky; _softly, softly._ Electricity shot between them like live wires, blue-spark danger and she felt like the parched ground after a rainstorm: renewed, alive, grateful. Felt Aria’s arms wrap around her and grip onto any part of her she could reach. Had been parched as well.

Aria pulled her lip out between her teeth and Tevos hissed, going stiff in her arms.

_Call me Thea._

“Thea-“ her name again in her ear, like the silk from a spider web; like she couldn’t say it enough. “ _Thea_ ,”

Her mouth was undemanding and smooth on her lips; an edge of teeth and a slight pressure on her neck. “Thea…”

She moaned in response, fumbling with Aria’s bra strap, pulling it, desperate for it to come loose; the hot tightness between her legs driving her to madness. Aria was at her throat, kissing, licking, sucking. Their hands tangled in clothing and when mouths met again they fell against the wall, knocking photos; Tevos’ let herself be lifted almost off her feet against the smooth sheetrock, her head pressed into it in thrall. She could practically feel her eyes fading to their most primal inky black. Shirt hit the floor, pants were unbuttoned; Aria’s hand finding its way between seam and underwear, where damp heat was waiting. She ached for her. It was delicious.

 _I want you. I want you. I want you._ Fluttering wings in her ribs.

“Bedroom.” It wasn’t a question.

Aria obeyed, leading her through the open door and kissing her onto the mattress, where she sprawled and writhed under her. Aria loomed over her, pressing her into the soft fabric, holding her arms above her head, firm and fast. They kissed with a fervor that burned through any of Thea’s doubts. She pulled against the bonds her lover had her in and Aria conceded, letting her pull herself up and find the clasp to her bra. She did the same, and for a moment they both stared, taking in full, heavy, naked breasts; two shades of purple, one light, and one dark. Two shades of soul, coming together; unlikely, asymmetric, and yet a perfect fit. Her facial markings traveled down her neck and out onto her shoulders, where they fanned out into swirling, tribal finery; Aria rang her tongue along the grooves on that neck, and Thea arched into her, letting hands clutch into her back, where those patterns continued in a maelstrom of white down, down, down, till they kissed the dimples of her spine. She was flawless; round and firm and divine. Lush and simply exquisite.

Thea bent her head and kissed her way down Aria’s chest, pausing at her dark nipples and swirling a tongue around each; Aria moaned and titled her head back, pushing herself into Thea’s mouth.

“Oh, Thea, _please_ …”

She relented, hooking her thumbs into the band of her underwear, pulling them down. Aria let her, heavy bass drum in her ears; in the still of the night all she could hear was Thea’s breath; the noise she made in her throat at the sight of all of her for the first time; her own consent: the sounds of sweltering desire. Tevos lay back as Aria disrobed her, pulling pants off legs and over ankles with infuriating slowness, and removing her underwear with finesse. The white of her top lip pursed in anticipated pleasure.

She pulled Aria on top of her again, and when their skin met a shockwave went through the room, melds beginning without thought and biotics swirling around them with abandon.

Throbbing wet, insatiable.

They moved like animals in slow motion, all fingertips and high-pitch cries, limbs tangled and innocence lost. Up and down like waves; like the ebb and flow of the tides they had come from. Aria kissed her ribs and shoulders, and the back of her knees; fingers laced in fingers and toes curled in anticipation.

“ _Goddess_ , Aria, take me. Have me. Please.” Aria moaned and trembled against her; felt Thea’s fingers brush her inner thighs, her palms on her breasts, her lips on her crest, her neck. “I’ve wanted this – I’ve wanted _you_ – for so long…”

Happenstance set the stage; fate, across the universe.

She surrounded her; like a summer torrent, she was encompassed in an instant. Like a shot of liquor, warming the very depths of her.

Pleading. Pleasing.

“Take me.”

She slid inside and they froze, an instant and a lifetime at once. Aria’s breath hitched and Thea nearly sobbed aloud, her mind reeling; reaching out to find Aria’s.

They collided.

Aria felt strung out; physically weak and completely addicted.

 _Nothing so dark could be so beautiful inside_ , Thea thought. But it did exist. She knew. She could see it. Feel it inside her; _her inside me_. _Inside me, I want you inside me, always-_

She was velvet soft and wet; could feel her in every part of her body; could smell her and taste her and feel her dripping-

Gently, gently; curling, rocking, pulsing love.

Aria felt like crying; felt things she didn’t have names for. She cried her name out into the night as Thea found her as well; over and over: “Thea, Goddess… Thea,  _Thea_   _– Ah._ ”

Gently, gently.

_Do not go gentle into that good night…_

Harder. Faster. Rougher. Wetter.

_-against reason_

_-687 years old-_

“Aria… I love you- Aria, I’m sorry it took me-I love you- I do, I have since-I-I do-“

_-against promise_

_-I was born in Armali-_

_“Thea…”_

_-against peace and hope and-_

_-they named me Aleena-_

They came together, like a tornado; like a strike of lightning.

_-against happiness-and-_

_-both Asari-_

_-against all discouragement that could be-_

Aria seemed… fragile. Like her love would be enough to break her. Like it maybe already had.

_The actor’s gone; there’s only you and me._

_I was a dancer, a mercenary, a commando… a drug mule, dealer, user. A killer. I’ve been so many people and so many places, but, Thea, this is me, all of me, here, with you._

_-I’ll tell you everything. I want you to know everything that is me;_

_You remind me of who I was… but I want you to know who’ve I’ve become._

_I-I-lov-I-since the moment I walked into your classroom…._

_I thought at first-but-_ you. You.

_You-_

_You and I_

_You and I._

_I know, Aria. I know. I know. I know-_

They came down slowly, fingers tracing the topography of each other, minds cotton-wool numb and ghost-speechless-opaque. Bodies spent, and hearts aching.

Aria blew lazy smoke rings into the midnight, long limbs cast in vampire shadows and fascinating to her. Her form was unlike any other. She looked over at her, still covered in a thin sheen of sex, and saw the demand in those violet eyes;

_Stay, here, with me._

The promise from the faithless;

_I will love you. Despite who I am, I will love you._

_Stay._

 

Thea cradled her in her arms.

Finally.


	8. Chapter 8

“So, how is our student doing?”

Thea sat up taller in the chair, ramrod straight and cool-professionalism outside; smirking inwardly.

“Oh, she’s doing very good work; very enthusiastic… impressive.”

Jon nodded, taking back the stack of papers and filing them away. “Okay, good, any next steps we need to take?”

_I could think of one or two… not that I expect-_

Thea’s Omni-tool pinged and she quickly hid a blush:

_I want to be inside of you. I want to make you come while you scream my name, Professor…_

“She will probably have to retake the course, but I suspect Ms. T’Loak will continue to please.”

 

***

_One Year Later_

 

She clutched the book and imagined she could smell Aria’s leather on the pages.

 

_“We need to stop doing this.” Said in a moment of clarity. In a moment of foolishness._

_Had watched her slump into her chair, all defiance and popped collar; arms and legs crossed against the sting of Thea’s words, she knew. Knew her so._

_“What are we doing? Aria, why are you even here, with me?”_

Loving you. _Saw it in her eyes: a flash of heartbreak behind the marrow-deep hatred. Her only defense against the true emotions lying just beneath._

 _Then the words that cut her to the bone._ _Her arms crossing; her soul shattered into a thousand pin pricks of glass._

_Her spine straightening; her heart breaking._

 

_“Get out of my office.” The words that had ended it all. Ended her._

_“If I do, I’m not coming back.”_

_“Get out.”_

 

_She had wept, openly and ugly; chest heaving and breath caught in her ribs; as if Aria’s love was a poison leaving her body. Detoxing one tear at a time._

_Sneering, jeering, fuck-the-world; soft, tender touches, tea in the morning, and laughter between sheets. Aria breathing evenly, serene in sleep; curled into a child-like ball, into herself, her back round and soft and so tender; so honest and pure and nakedly her. Private dinners and expensive wine and bikini-clad hidden holidays and scratches down her back, until it bled lavender and stained their sheets – oh, yes, ‘their sheets’ because she couldn’t imagine life without her… her home without her in it._

_“Don’t fuck with Aria…”_

_Except she had. Oh had she. And had let her crawl under her skin, get into her heart and-_

_Bloodstained hands and banshee cruel; the warmest, truest love she had ever felt. The most incredible lover she had ever had._

_“I love you…”_

_Like a flash-bang she had entered her life and left her raw and aching for more. Like a soft rain on her skin, she had not even noticed it until it had been too late. Thunder and adoration in equal measure._

_Could still smell her on her skin, taste her spicy desire on her lips._

_Necrotic and rejuvenating._

_So sure she would never see her again._

“Oh Goddess, Aria… come back.”

 

And she had. But she had been too proud to wrap her arms around her. Too scared to show her how she loved her so; too scared to face the inevitable backlash, to fully devote herself to the woman who had her heart held in her gloved, perfectly manicured, often bloodied, guilty of goddess-knew-what hands.

To give up everything for her.

 _“Is there anything else I can do for you?” She had asked;_ please say anything… please. Please say ‘yes; love me. That is what you can do. Love me.’

_Instead she had tossed a worn book at her feet and stomped away._

 

Now, alone again, she read:

“ ‘The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.’ ”

_Oh, Aria…_

‘…you are my primary purpose.’

The great and powerful.

_The only one… my only, truest…_

_My heart. You were my heart._

She clutched the book close.

_Goddess, I miss you so._

**Author's Note:**

> Work contains characters and dialogue recognizable and lifted from all three Mass Effect games, and therefore those words belong to Bioware and are simply being borrowed by me to create this AU.
> 
> Absolutely did NOT write the lyrics or quotations. The copyright for these are as follows:  
> Peter Gabriel  
> © Copyright 1977 Real World Music Limited. EMI Music Publishing Limited.  
> Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1861, Nicholas Nickleby, 1839.  
> Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,1952.


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